Ralph D. Crowley Jr.

Published Sunday November 4, 2012 at 6:00 am

Updated Thursday November 15, 2012 at 10:38 am

PHOTO/ T&G Staff/PAUL KAPTEYN

Mr. Crowley

Polar Beverages of Worcester is the largest privately owned soft drink bottler in the U.S. Mr. Crowley is the fourth generation of his family to run the company, which started as the J.G. Bieberbach Co. in 1882 and was purchased by the Crowley family in 1916. He was interviewed prior to his recent speech before the Worcester Economic Club at the Beechwood Hotel in Worcester.

In recent years, Polar was required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to make some expensive equipment changes in order to meet regulations. What was that all about?

“Polar is probably the largest water purchaser in the city. … We are using a similar amount of water in Scotia, N.Y., to the water we use here in Worcester. And my comments regarding the EPA are really about what's going to happen to the city, with the city having to make perhaps a billion and a half (dollars) in water improvements, and what the cost of water is going to be in the future. So right now, water in Worcester costs us about three times as much as it does in our other plants, and the anticipated price increase for the EPA is three times again, so I'm very concerned about what that means to Polar in the future, if our prices for water triple. … We've had no contact or discussions with the EPA. We work with the Upper Blackstone (Water Pollution Abatement District) all the time.”

Many companies move some operations overseas or to lower-cost parts of the U.S. to save money and increase revenues. Are there any plans to do that as Polar continues to grow?

“Some years ago, about 2000, we had the opportunity to pick up and move our operations to a state that gave us fabulous tax incentives to do so, and all the economic studies said it was the right thing to do. But Polar is blessed with a fabulous workforce here in Worcester, and ultimately our decision was, why would you leave the people that made the company just to save a buck or two? So we are proud to say Worcester's our home town, Worcester's our corporate headquarters. It's one of our most important manufacturing facilities, and it will remain so.”

Can you discuss your new acquisition in Georgia?

“What's been going on with us is we are lucky. We are growing very quickly, and a lot of the business, a lot of our growth opportunities, are down South. Some companies look at emerging markets as Indonesia; we look at emerging markets as Florida, South Carolina and Georgia. So we were able to acquire a fabulous manufacturing facility in Fitzgerald, Ga. For the history buffs, Fitzgerald was where Jefferson Davis was captured at the end of the Civil War. It is the deep, deep South. It is a beautiful facility, and a lot of our growth in the future will continue there. If we think about the population in the Northeast, with the exception of Worcester, it is shrinking, and where's it going? Down South. So we really need to have a southern strategy. It doesn't mean we'll be doing any less up here; it just means we're going to focus a lot of growth down there.”

You have been quoted in trade publications saying that one of the keys to your success is forming mutually beneficial relationships with bigger competitors. Has that continued to work for you?

“It certainly has. It's funny … for Coca-Cola, we handle Seagram's Mixers and Moxie. For Pepsi, we handle Izze. For Dr. Pepper Snapple in Dallas, Texas, we handle 7Up, A&W, Sunkist, RC Diet Rite, Snapple, Nantucket Nectars. For Nestle, we handle their Sweet Leaf Tea. We manufacture an awful lot of their products on their behalf. So we have strategic relationships. What I like to say is when you're a little guy, you like to have big friends. So when I go into a room, I consider them all allies, who hopefully don't squish me like a bug.”

Wachusett Mountain Ski Area, Wachusett Village Inn & Conference Center and Adirondack Beverages are described as being among Polar's “business partners.” Does that mean Polar owns them?

“Let me start with Adirondack. Adirondack is a fully owned subsidiary of Polar, so yes, Polar owns Adirondack. It is a beautiful 800,000-square-foot plant in Scotia, N.Y., that we acquired in 1995. Wachusett, Wachusett Village Inn are owned by the Crowley family, and Polar company is owned by the Crowley family, so we have the same stockholders at Wachusett and Wachusett Village Inn as we do at Polar. Said another way, Wachusett owns Polar and Polar owns Wachusett. So we are partners.”